Why I Finally Bit the Bullet on a Home-Delivery Meal Subscription

For months, I’ve gone back and forth on trying a home-delivery meal subscription. I know you know what I’m talking about, they’re advertised CONSTANTLY on every social media platform, website, hell, they even advertise in snail-mail!

We’ve all seen the comparisons to how the prices are competitive to shopping in a grocery store, but I always argued that I could eat less complicated meals, with larger portion sizes for less. That’s why I never signed-up. If I just stuck to one protein and one veggie per meal, I could have more bang for my buck. While I still believe this to be true, (especially if you buy in bulk,) I finally decided to give one a try: Home Chef.

Here’s Why:

Mobility Convenience- I literally don’t have to be on my feet going through a massive grocery store– which is really important for this severe flare up in my arthritis.

Time: You save time by not having to plan healthy, proportionate meals that fit all of your dietary restrictions. To me, planning a delicious, yet healthy meal that fits all of my dietary restrictions is the hardest part. And mentally taxing. BONUS!! You save time by not fighting traffic driving to the grocery store, you also save time by not having to SHOP in the grocery store. *WIN* Also, each meal takes a total prep/cook time of 25-35 minutes!

Cost: After you factor in the above mentioned conveniences, you really come out on top at each meal only costing $9.95 per person/meal.

Unique recipes: This is the best part. All these recipes have been extremely delicious, healthy, meets my diet restrictions (with a smudge of modification on my end), and appropriate portion sizes! That sure beats my broken record of: protein+veggie+salt+pepper+olive oil *and repeat*

Favorite Recipe thus far: Pork Medallions with Fig Reduction and Goat Cheese with a side of Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, and Shallots!

What solidified my plunge:

While I was already making major diet modifications since my birthday in October cutting back on gluten and casein (the protein found in dairy), this recent diagnosis has made me even more radical and strict in sticking to my newfound anti-inflammatory diet. I cheated one night a couple of weeks ago and ate pizza. Good ole, full-dairy, full-gluten wheat crust, pizza. And damn was it good– while it was going down the hatch. The next morning I woke up more inflamed, stiff, and in pain than I had for several weeks. Alarms were going off, and this positive punishment was enough for me to really adhere to my anti-inflammatory diet more than ever. I had to begrudgingly concede to myself that gluten and casein really do affect systemic inflammation.

So, I started doing research on home-delivery subscriptions to minimize my temptation. The temptation of going out to restaurants and ordering poor choices, and the temptation of going to the grocery and picking up tasty items that don’t fit into my dietary plan. I came across this wonderful article that helped me decide, but you can also sign up for her recipe subscription and just buy your own ingredients!

After reading her article I narrowed it down to Green Chef and Home Chef. Turns out that was her two top choices for paleo, low-carb options, too! (I ultimately want to avoid gluten, but I’ve also been super interested in a keto-diet, which requires you to have minimal carbs in general.) Currently, my focus is on paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free recipes.

I chose Home Chef— and ultimately the reason I went with Home Chef was because it’s $5 cheaper per meal. Because, I did notice that Green Chef seems to have more specific diet preferences and weekly meal options of “Paleo” “low carb” etc, but at ~$5 cheaper per meal and $30-off for a new subscription– I’m going to try Home Chef first.

That makes Home Chef only $9.95 per person/meal, and if you order more than 3, 2-person meals a week, you get free shipping! So ~$60 a week for 6 healthy, well-portioned meals that you don’t have to spend time planning or going to the grocery store and buying.

If you sign-up for Home Chef with my link here, you will get $30 off your subscription!

*Disclaimer: this post is completely of my own opinion from my own research. I have not been provided free meals, paid, or solicited to advertise for Home Chef*

Anyways! Although I’m trying Home Chef out first, so far even though I signed-up for 3 meals/week they only have enough Low Carb, Gluten-Free meals to provide 2 meals/week, which means I’m paying $10 in unnecessary shipping costs. Or I have to pick a third meal that lies outside my dietary preferences, which meals I have to cut-out ingredients that I’ve paid for with the subscription. That is why I may trial Green Chef later. At $5 more a meal, it seems they might have more options and I won’t be wasting $10 a week in shipping!